Data input device

ABSTRACT

The method is for entering data into a computer device. A wearable device ( 10 ) is attaching to a hand ( 212 ). The device ( 10 ) has a lower unit ( 14 ) placed in a palm ( 106 ) of the hand and an upper unit ( 16 ) placed behind knuckles ( 17 ) of the hand and connected to the lower unit ( 14 ). A sensor ( 202 ) has transducers ( 260, 262, 264, 266, 268 ) in operative engagement with fingers ( 250, 252, 254, 256, 258 ). The sensor ( 202 ) has a position sensor ( 210 ) associated with an electronic cursor or sign ( 211 ) displayed on a screen ( 213 ). The fingers and/or hand are moved to switch the sensor ( 202 ) from a keyboard mode to a mouse mode. The hand ( 212 ) is shifted in a first direction to move the cursor ( 211 ) in the first direction on the screen ( 213 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a data input device that includes aposition sensor that may be used to operate electronic cursors and otherelectronic devices.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Conventional data input interfaces with computers most often requireskeyboards. It is sometimes cumbersome to use keyboards especially if thecomputer or communication device is very small so that each letter orcommand button is also very small. For example, it is very inconvenientto enter text messages into a mobile phone or PDA because the devicesare so small. In other situations, it is simply inconvenient to use aconventional keyboard because there is not sufficient room for the userto use the relatively large keyboards. This is particularly true whenthe user needs to enter data in a keyboard mode and to manipulatecommand by using mouse commands. There is a need for a convenient andreliable way of entering and manipulating data in a computer device. Themethod of the present invention provides a solution to theabove-outlined problems. More particularly, the method of the presentinvention is a method for entering data into a computer device. Awearable device is attaching to a hand. The device has a lower unitplaced in a palm of the hand and an upper unit placed behind knuckles ofthe hand and connected to the lower unit. A sensor has transducers inoperative engagement with fingers. The sensor has a position sensorassociated with an electronic cursor displayed on a screen. The fingersare moved to switch the sensor from a keyboard mode to a mouse mode. Thehand is turned in a first direction to move the cursor in the firstdirection on the screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hand-held device of the presentinvention mounted on a left hand;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hand-held device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the hand-held device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the hand-held device along line 4-4of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the hand-held device with a fingerresting on the device;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the hand-held device with a fingerapplying a pressure on a front end of the hand-held device;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flow diagram of the information flow of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an upwardly directed hand with thehand-held device mounted thereon;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a downwardly directed hand with thehand-held device mounted thereon;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an outwardly rotated hand with thehand-held device mounted thereon;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view along line 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an inwardly directed hand with thehand-held device mounted thereon; and

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view along the line 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the sensor of the hand-held device;

FIG. 15 is a detailed view of a transducer with a finger in a restposition;

FIG. 16 is a detailed view of the transducer with the finger in anactive position; and

FIG. 17 is a detailed view of the transducer with the finger removedfrom the transducer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, the present invention is a data inputdevice 10 for entering information into, for example, a computerconnected to the device 10 without using a conventional keyboard. Forexample, the information may include text information such as a typingor remote control of certain functions of a machine. The device may behand-held and a modified version of the device may be worn on the wristor any other suitable place.

The device 10 may be mounted, for example, to a hand 12 so that a lowerunit 14 is placed below palm and finger sections of the hand 12 and theupper unit 16 is placed above the hand 12 behind the knuckles 17. Theunit 16 may include a PDA or a small display for showing, for example,what is being typed. Preferably, the units 14, 16 are connected by aconnecting portion 18 disposed inside a thumb 20. The preferred positionof the device 10 in the hand 12 is explained in detail below.

The lower unit 14 has a front rounded flexible portion 22 and a roundedrear portion 24 attached thereto. More particularly, the portion 22 hasa groove 26 defined therein and lower and upper parts of the portion 22may be applied against front edges 28 of a solid lower housing 30.Similarly, the portion 24 has a groove defined therein and the portion24 may be applied to back edges 32 of the housing 30. The housing 30 hasan upright back 34 having a cavity 36 defined therein for receiving acylinder part 38. The housing 30 has also a short upright front 35. Anupper end 40 of the back 34 has a groove 42 defined therein.

A sensor device 44 may be placed in the housing 30. The device 44 has aflexible printed circuit board 46 including a first protrusion 48, asecond protrusion 50, a third protrusion 52, a fourth protrusion 54 anda fifth protrusion 56. The protrusions have sensors, these sensors canutilize for instance strain gauges, pressure transducers or movingcoils, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57 that are sensitive to and continuouslyregister movements of the protrusions. It is through this continuousmeasurement of the position of the protrusions that it is possible todraw the conclusion that a finger has moved. It is therefore notnecessary to rely on only one movement to conclude that a movement hasbeen made. Preferably, the protrusions are positioned below the palm 106and a distal portion 97 of the hand 12 while the protrusion 54 extendstowards an index finger 58, the protrusion 52 extends towards a middlefinger 60, the protrusion 50 extends towards a ring finger 62 and theprotrusion 48 extends towards a little finger 64. However, it ispossible to use more or fewer than five sensors for sensing themovements of the fingers. The present invention is not limited to onesensor per finger since the system considers the movement of all thefingers, as explained below. Other sensors than strain gauges may alsobe used in the system. These may register movements or accelerationsdepending upon the sensor technique that is used. As an example, thedevice can be equipped with one or several accelerometers. With the useof three dimesnions all movements of the hand can be detected. Usingmore than three accelerometers it is also possible to measure rotationsof the hand.

As indicated above, the board 46 may be used to register movements ofthe fingers of the hand 12 and movements of the hand both astranslations and as rotations. Preferably, the protrusions 48, 50, 52,54 and 56 are easier to bend compared to a central section 66 of theboard 46. The protrusions may be separated by cavities so that themovement of one protrusion is not unduly affected by the movement of anadjacent protrusion. However, as explained below, the device 10 takesthe movements of all the fingers and some of the degrees of freedom forthe hand into account before it determines which letter or command theuser intended to activate. In this way, not only the movement of theactive finger but also the movement of adjacent fingers and the hand areused when determining which letter or command the user intended.

The central section 66 has a stiff or bendable battery unit 68 that isin operative engagement with a computer-processing unit 69 on thesection 66. The invention is not limited to battery units and anysuitable power source may be used. The section 66 may also have aconverter 71 that converts analog signals to digital signals. The device44 is dimensioned so that it may fit on top of the housing 30 andbetween the portions 22, 24 when the portions 22, 24 are attached to thehousing 30. The protrusions 48, 50, 52, 54 may be inserted into thegroove 26 of the portion 22 and a back edge 70 of the board 46 may becaptured between the housing 30 and a top cover 76. The sensor device 44has a power input connector 72 and a communication port 74 disposedbelow and attached to the board 46. It should be noted that theconnector 72 and the port 74 may be integrated into one unit. Theconnector 72 may be used to recharge the battery 68 or to power thedevice 10 and the port 74 may be used to connect the device 10 to acomputer or any other suitable device that can receive signals producedby the device 10. The connector 72 and port 74 may be hidden behind anopenable lid 75, as best seen in FIG. 2. Wireless technology such asbluetooth, radio technology or any other radio technology or any othersuitable wireless technology may also connect the device 10 to acomputer.

The device 10 has the cover 76 placed on top of the sensor device 44 andattached to the housing 30 by screws 78, 80 to firmly hold the device 44between the housing 30 and the cover 76. The various pieces may also beadhered together so that the screws are not necessary. The cover 76 hasan upright back 82 having a cavity 84 defined therein. The upper unit 16has a back 86 that may be attached to the back 82 in the cavity 84thereof. The upper unit 16 may be replaced by a strip. The back 86 maybe pivotally attached to the back 82 by inserting a pivot pin throughopenings 88, 90 of the back 82 and an opening 92 of a lower end 94 ofthe back 86. An adjustment screw 96 may be attached to the device 10 toadjust the gap between the units 14, 16 to accommodate the device 10 todifferent hand sizes. If desired, the device 10 may be attached directlyto a PDA.

FIGS. 5-6 show a hand and a finger, such as a distal portion 97 of thepalm 106 bearing against the device 10 and a finger 60. Moreparticularly, the device 10 is placed below a metacarpophalangeal (MCP)joint 98 so that the device 10 may register movements of the fingerportion 100 relative to the metacarpalia bone 103 of the hand 12.Preferably, the portion 100 rests on the cover 76 and the flexibleportion 22. The portion 22 should be positioned between the joint 98 anda finger joint 104 so that the portion 22 is positioned about half wayalong the promixal phalanx and beyond the metacarpophalangeal joint ofeach finger. When the portion 100 is moved downwardly relative to thebone 103 to reduce an angle alpha 1 (see FIG. 5) to an angle alpha 2(see FIG. 6), the portion 22 is deformed proportionally to the changesin the metacarpophalangeal joint angle and the protrusion 52 is bentslightly and proportionally in a downward direction. More particularly,movements of the metacarpophalangeal joint 98, disposed between theproximal phalanx 100 and the metacarpalia bone 103 of the hand 12, ismeasured. For example, when the middle finger 60 moves downwardly by amovement in the metacarpophalangeal joint 98, the portion 22 bearsagainst the palm portion 97 of the proximal phalanx of the middle finger60 and the portion 22 is deformed proportionally to the changes in sizeof the metacarpophalangeal joint angle so that the sensor 53 cancontinuously register the different positions. The angle alpha 1 may beclose to 180 degrees or slightly less. The sensor 53 registers thebending of the protrusion. It is to be understood that the finger 60 isused as an example and the same principle applies to all the protrusionsand fingers.

Because the portions 22, 24 are made of a flexible material, theprotrusions 48, 50, 52, 54 and 56 are permitted to move when the portion22 is moved by the fingers 58, 60, 62, 64 and the portion 24 is moved bythe thumb 20. The device 10 also may have an on/off function 63 and apause function 65 built in. It may also be possible to deactivate thedevice 10 by a certain finger or hand movement or by not using thedevice for a certain time.

As mentioned above, when the device 10 of the present invention is usedas a text input device, it is not necessary that the user is actuallyusing a conventional keyboard. It is sufficient to move the fingers andhand as if the user is typing such as by pressing the fingers against atable surface or thigh to move the proximal phalanx of a finger andthereby changing the angle of the metacarpophalangeal joints of thehands. Because the sensors are continuously sending signals and thesesignals are continuously measured, it is possible pre-set a signalinglevel that will trigger an event that a finger impact has occurred. Itis important to note that it is not necessary for the user or operatorto hit a specific spot on the table or whatever surfaces the fingers arehitting. It is enough to make a sufficient movement in themetacarpophalangeal joints and an indication of direction of themovements of the hand to transmit a signal regardless where on the tablesurface the fingertips hit.

It may also be possible to adjust the device 10 so that the sensors areplaced on top of each finger to measure the movements of the joints andfingers. One advantage of having the device 10 on the back of the handis that it frees up the inside of the hand for other tasks. In this way,all the measurements of the finger movements are performed on the backof the hand and the fingers. For certain sensor techniques, anotheradvantage of placing the sensors on top of the fingers may be that itcould be easier to register changes in the angle of themetacarpophalangeal joints of the fingers.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the information flow within thepresent invention. The device 10 is connected to a left side portion114, corresponding to the fingers of a left hand of a user, and a rightside portion 116, corresponding to the fingers of a right hand of theuser. The portions 114, 116 are in operative engagement with sensors118, 120, respectively, to activate the sensors so that the sensors 118,120 may continuously send signals, as a result of registered movementsby the portions 114, 116. The sensors may correspond to the protrusions48, 50, 52, 54, 56 on the board 46. The sensors 118, 120 continuouslysend signals to multiplexer units 119, 121, respectively. The units 119,121 are hardware devices that enable two or more signals to betransmitted over the same circuit at the same time by temporarilycombining them into a single signal. On the receiving end, the signalsare divided again by a demultiplexer that may be part of themicroprocessors 126, 128. The processors may guide and distribute thetasks as is symbolized with dashed lines in FIG. 7. Values arecontinuously being sent from the sensors to the multiplexer units thatin turn send instructions to both the sensors and the multiplexer units.The analog digital converters 122, 124, respectively, convert the analogsignals from the sensors to digital signals before the signals areforwarded to the microprocessors 126, 128. The micro-processors 126, 128process the signals in mathematical operations, such as an artificialneural network system, before the signals are sent via a communicationunit 130 to a computing device 132 such as a computer, PDA, telephone orany other target device. Communication units 129, 131 are connected tothe microprocessors 126, 128, respectively. The units 129, 131 are thenconnected to the communication unit 130. The unit 130 may be connectedto the receiver via any suitable communication technology such asinfrared, sound, cable or radio-transmission. The computing device 132may then display the text if the device 10 is used as a typing device.

The artificial neural network may remove certain letter possibilities asvery unlikely and the language processor may carry on the analysis tofinally determine which letter and words are intended by the user. Theartificial neural network is particularly useful in determining whichletter is intended by reviewing columns of letters. The module is quiteefficient at determining sideways movement using the sensors for handmovements such as the difference between the letter “f” and the letter“g” on a conventional key board because the letters are beside oneanother and the letter “f”, for example, is further away from the thumbcompared to the letter “g.” The module may also learn how most peopletype “f” compared to “g” by letting a large number of people use thesystem and record how most people use all the fingers when certainletters are intended to be typed.

The language processor may also have an artificial neural networkmodule. This module analyses the movement of not only the finger that isactivated but also the other fingers and the whole hand when determiningwhich letter or command the user intended. The module analyzes a patternof signals from all the fingers and all hand-sensors and may filter awayunlikely letters. The module may also store unusual finger movementpatterns that are used for certain letters. The module may also learnfrom the user's corrections once the user sees what is being displayed.In this way, the module may be trained to recognize which letter theuser intends by analyzing the movements of all the fingers in relationto one another. By using the artificial neural network, it may bepossible to determine which letter the user, without using a languageprocessor, intends. The module may be set so that only certain valuesare treated as acceptable letters and signs. In this way, the number ofpossible letters is drastically reduced before the language processorstarts the analysis. The user may also set the input speed and whetherthe user is using the fingers to create a hard or relatively soft impacton a surface because the movement pattern may change depending upon howfast the user is typing and how hard the fingers are hit against asurface. It may also be possible to keep separate networks for lettersand numbers. Predefined finger and/or hand movements may be used toreplace the function of a computer mouse. The computing device 132 mayinclude a language processor that may elaborate input streams intowords. The language processor may also be used to compose words intosentences and to display the most likely sentences. The languageprocessor may propose possible corrections required if the sentence hasambiguities. When using a conventional keyboard, each finger may be usedfor six or more characters including punctuation marks and other signs.Since the dominant thumb is most often used for the space bar, the lessdominant thumb may be used to activate a backspace command.

Each finger stroke may be analyzed both on a lexical level and on asyntactic level. The language processor may also analyze the frequencyranking level. The lexical analysis may include pre-matching any threeletters into a tri-gram dictionary. In other words, the languageprocessor defines a tri-gram of three letter sequences that exist in atleast one word in the English dictionary. One goal of the tri-grammatching is to minimize the number of searches in a dictionary ofEnglish words and the speed up the processing time because the threeletter combinations that do not exist in the English language areeliminated. Words that are shorter than three words may be directlymatched without using the tri-gram analysis.

When the words have more than three letters it is necessary to mergethrough sliding tri-grams. For every sequence of three letters, theprocess may establish all the possible trigrams that can be found in adictionary database. Any previous trigrams may be matched with thecurrent tri-grams and the results are stored. These steps are repeateduntil an empty space is encountered. When the tri-gram analysis iscompleted, the language processor conducts a dictionary match thatresults in a set of possible words. Every word in the set is then mappedinto possible phrases. The resulting phrases may then be matched againstpossible known sentence structures.

As soon as a space is encountered, the language processor knows thelength of the word. The language processor may also know which fingerwas used for the first letter. Groups of words that match these criteriamay be ordered according to the letter configuration of a conventionalkeyboard, i.e., a, q, z, s, x, w, c, d, e, b, f, g, r, t, v, b, h, j, m,n, u, y, i, k, l, o, p.

The language processor may also analyze the typed words depending uponwhether the word is a noun, verb, auxiliary, preposition etc. Some wordsmay belong to several syntactic groups. For example, the word “can” isboth a noun and an auxiliary. The language processor may determine whichsyntactic group should be used based on where in the sentence the wordis used. When the language processor cannot determine which syntacticrule applies, the language processor may have default setting to displaythe most frequently used type of words. In most cases, a sequence offinger strokes does not produce one word only but a set of words. Theintended word type may be selected according to the phrase structuregrammar and the word frequency.

The phrase structure grammar may employ phrases to describe thesyntactic structure of a sentence by describing the sentence as a phrasestructure. The phrase structures are combinations of words, such asdeterminer-nouns and auxiliary verbs. The structures describe the wordtypes that make up a particular phrase. It considers the syntacticcontext of words by matching the adjacent word types against the phrasestructures. The syntactic processor may use a simple grammar of phrasestructures that could be included in a database. It parses through theinput sentence to match each sentence word against the phrase structurethat results in a description of phrases and word types in the sentence.After the input sentence is parsed, some sentence words could remainunmatched when, for example, the word is misspelled or the words are notrepresented in a phrase structure. This means that there is no phrasestructure that matches the input sequence of word types. In this case,the outcome for every word in the sentence will be the most frequentword for each word set. The language processor may also simply bypassthe word.

When a sentence is matched, there could still be more than one possiblesentence. The frequency of every word, among the ones matching at leastone sentence structure, may be used to determine which words should bedisplayed. The sentences may therefore be ranked based on the frequencyof occurrence of each word. The sentences that have the words with thehighest total score may be selected and displayed. When the languageprocessor encounters punctuation, it may be programmed to consider thesentence as being finished and starts to perform the syntacticalanalysis and the highest ranked sentence may be displayed. The languageprocessor may also conduct a semantic analysis of the sentence so thatthe meaning of the words is considered.

In an alternative embodiment, a remote sensor may recognize and registerthe sound created by the fingers hitting a surface. The sensor maydistinguish between the different fingers because the fingers have, forexample, different lengths and thickness that create different soundvibrations when the fingers hit a surface.

With reference to FIG. 8, an alternative data input device 200 may havea sensor unit 202 disposed below the metacarpophalangeal joints 204 ofthe fingers. A stretchable band 206 is attached to the sensor unit 202and a plate unit 208. The sensor unit 202 has a position sensitivesensor 210, such as an accelerometer or inclinometer that is sensitiveto the position of a hand 212 to which the device 200 is attached. Thesensor 210 may also be located in the plate unit 208.

The sensor 210 may be connected to a movable electronic cursor or sign211 or other movable signs displayed on a computer screen 213. The sign211 could also be a target or activation button of a computer game or anelectronic document or any other suitable application. Certain commandsor finger movements may be used to switch the unit 202 from a keyboardmode to a mouse mode. The keyboard mode may mean that the device is usedto type letters and other commands, as described above. The mouse modemay make it possible to perform functions that are normally carried outby a conventional mouse device such as moving a cursor and clicking oncommands on the computer screen 213. For example, the unit 202 may beset up so that the contacts of the transducers have light emittingdiodes and the unit 202 is in the keyboard mode when the diodes see eachother and in the mouse mode when the diodes do not see each other or areblocked from each other. Of course, the unit 202 may be put into themouse mode regardless of the status of any light emitting diodes.

When the unit 202 is in the mouse mode, the index finger 256, or anyother finger, may be used to activate the commands that correspond tothe right button on a conventional mouse that is set up for aleft-handed person. The middle finger 254 may be used for commands thatcorrespond to the left button. Of course, the unit 202 may be set up inany way that is suitable to the user. The remaining fingers 250, 252 andthumb 258 may be used for other special mouse commands when the unit 202is in the mouse mode. The unit 202 may be switched back to the keyboardcommand by a certain command or finger movement to deactivate the mousemode.

The hand 212 may be turned upwardly at a wrist 214 so that the hand 212extends along a line 12 a that forms an angle alpha1 relative to a line11 parallel to the wrist 214 and the fore-arm or upper arm 216. In otherwords, the hand 212 may be turned or moved relative to either theforearm or the upper arm of the user. The upward movement of the hand212 may move the cursor in a corresponding upward direction when theunit 202 is in the mouse mode. The speed of the cursor may be determinedor changed by changing the angle alpha1. The greater the angle alpha1the faster the cursor may move on the screen 213. By reducing the angle,the cursor may slow down until the hand is in a horizontal position andthe cursor stops.

FIG. 9 shows the hand 212 turned downwardly so that the hand 212 extendsalong a line 12 b that forms an angle alpha2 relative to the horizontalline 11. Similar to the upward movement of the hand, the downwardmovement of the hand 212 may move the cursor in a corresponding downwardmovement on the screen. The speed of the cursor may be controlled by theangle alpha2.

FIGS. 10-11 show the hand 212 in an inward rotated position so that thehand 212 is aligned along a sloping line 14 to move the cursor 211 in aleft direction LD on the computer screen 213. The line 14 forms an anglebeta relative to a horizontal rest position 13. FIGS. 12-13 show thehand 200 in an outward rotated position so that the hand 212 is alignedalong a sloping line 15 to move the cursor 211 in a right direction RDon the computer screen 213. The line 15 forms an angle gamma relative tothe horizontal rest position 13. The left or right movement of thecursor 211 may be stopped by moving the hand 212 so that the hand 212 isaligned with the horizontal position 13. The hand 212 has fingers 250,252, 254, 256 and the thumb 258 that may be used for typing commandswhen the unit is in the keyboard mode or for certain mouse commands whenthe unit is in the mouse mode.

FIG. 14 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the flexible and resilientsensor unit 202 along line 14-14 of FIG. 8. More particularly, the unit202 has pressure transducers 260, 262, 264, 266 and 268 that are alignedbelow the fingers 250, 252, 254, 256 and the thumb 258, respectively.

FIGS. 15-16 are detailed views of one possible embodiment the transducer264 that has been selected as an illustrative example. FIG. 15 is ahigh-resistance start position and FIG. 16 is a low resistance activeposition. The other transducers 260, 262, 266 and 268 are preferablyidentical to the transducer 264. The transducer 264 has a first contact270, such as a conductive metal plate, and a second contact 272, such asa conductive metal plate. The contacts 270, 272 may be connected to acircuit board.

A conductive material 274, such as carbon grains, is disposed betweenthe contacts 270, 272. The material 274 may also include steel/metalgrains or conductive polymer grains. The grains are more or less incontact with one another and are embedded by a non-conductive flexiblematerial 276 such as a silicone material. An important feature of thetransducer 264 is that it changes its resistance when a length l₇ of thetransducer 264 is reduced to a shorter length l₈. The conductivity isincreased the more the first contact 270 and second contact 272 arepressed towards one another because there is an increased contactsurface between the carbon grains 274 that results in betterconductivity. The difference between the length l₇ and the length l₈ maybe in the range of 0.1-0.2 millimeters or any other suitable lengthdifference as required. The resistance change between the contacts 270and 272 may be measured. The resistance change should be linearly ornon-linearly proportional to the amount of compression of the transducer264.

It should be understood that there, preferably, is some conductivityeven when the transducer 264 is in the high resistance start position,as shown in FIG. 15, because the weight of the finger 254 puts somepressure P1 on the transducer 264. In this way, it is possible tomeasure when the finger 254 is in the rest position, as shown in FIG.15, and the active position, as shown in FIG. 16, when the finger 254put a higher pressure P2 on the transducer 264. It is also possible todetermine when the finger 254 is lifted or moved away from the contact272 because the resistance is increased to a value that is higher thanthe rest or start resistance. FIG. 17 shows the finger 254 lifted awayfrom the contact 272 to form a gap therebetween and so that the fingerexerts a zero or no pressure P0 on the transducer 264 and the length ofthe transducer is l₆ that is longer than the length l₇. In this way, itis possible to register when the finger is in the rest position and somepressure is put on the transducer (see FIG. 15), the active positionwhen a higher pressure is put on the transducer to deform it (see FIG.16) and the removed position when the finger is removed from thetransducer (FIG. 17) and no pressure is put on the transducer.

As described below, the unit 202 measures the movements of not only onefinger but all the fingers so that the movement pattern of all fingersare measured and analyzed. For example, when the user is activating thefinger 254 to press the letter “d”, the other fingers also move in apattern that is characteristic for the activation of the letter “d”. Byanalyzing the movement of all the fingers, the accuracy of determiningwhich letter the user intended is improved. This means that themovements of all the fingers 250-258, and consequently the movements ofall the transducers 260-268, are analyzed. The pressure transducers inFIGS. 14-17 are preferably sensitive to the actual pressure. Analternative and possible embodiment may be based on a change in pressuresuch as a piezoelectric transducer.

While the present invention has been described in accordance withpreferred compositions and embodiments, it is to be understood thatcertain substitutions and alterations may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

1. A method of entering and manipulating data in a computer device,comprising: providing a wearable device and attaching the wearabledevice to a hand, the device having a lower unit placed in a palm of thehand and an upper unit placed behind knuckles of the hand and connectedto the lower unit, the lower unit having a sensor attached thereto, thesensor having transducers in operative engagement with fingers thesensor having a position sensor; associating the position sensor with anelectronic sign 211 displayed on a screen; moving one of the fingers toswitch the sensor from a keyboard mode to a mouse mode; and shifting thehand to activate the sign on the screen.
 2. The method according toclaim 1 wherein the method further comprises moving the hand is adirection to move the sign in the same direction.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises moving one ofthe fingers to engage one of the transducers to reduce a length l₇ ofthe transducer to a length l₈, the length l₈ being shorter than thelength l₇.
 4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method furthercomprises increasing a velocity of the sign by increasing an anglealpha1 relative to a line l₁ parallel to a forearm.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 4 wherein the method further comprises slowing downand stopping the sign by moving the hand to a position that issubstantially parallel to the line l₁.
 6. The method according to claim1 wherein the method further comprises turning the hand in a downwardposition relative to a line l₁ parallel to a forearm to move the sign inthe downward position
 7. The method according to claim 6 wherein themethod further comprises increasing a velocity of movement of the signby increasing an angle alpha relative to the line l₁.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises measuring arotational movement of the hand.
 9. The method according to claim 3wherein the method further comprises determining which command or letteris typed by analyzing a conductivity change of the transducers.
 10. Themethod according to claim 9 wherein the method further comprisesanalyzing movements of all fingers when determining which command orletter is typed.